Tag Archives | Enlightenment

Manly P Hall – author, mystic, examiner of all things esoteric – teases apart the obscurities of Homer’s epic to reveal its secret meaning. Namely, what certain elements represent and how it relates to the inner life of man (mental/emotional/spiritual) and consciousness by and large.

Clocking in around an hour-and-a-half, it’s a bit of an undertaking – but it’s well worth the listen:

For more of Hall’s complete talks, check out the Apollyon Productions channel on YouTube:

There Is No God and He Is Always with You is the title of Brad Warner’s latest book which is sure to raise a few eyebrows along with many questions, such as, “Can you be an atheist and still believe in God? Can you be a true believer and still doubt? Can Zen give us a way past our constant fighting about God?”

From Publisher’s Weekly:

“In his new book, Warner (Hardcore Zen) momentarily sets aside his punk weapons of iconoclasm and takes a more respectful, even reverential tone to a perennial question: does God exist? As a practicing Zen Buddhist, his way of considering this question is entangled in oft-misunderstood concepts such as enlightenment. Warner never shies away from such complications; instead, they become grounds where the Western understanding of God and the Buddhist approach to reality and experience meet. For Warner, his practice is a way to approach and understand God without dealing with religion.

After listening to Watts, Manson’s answer struck me as profound. “I am nobody”, was his answer, basically. It struck me that Manson is a Zen Master.

I had seen other Manson interviews. He completely dominates all his interviewers, running circles around them. Interviewers always come at Manson in a hostile way, seeking to pass judgement and not listen at all. Manson takes these as an opportunity for dharmic battle, and he destroys. He is a master. It seemed to me that Manson was answering all of the questions in little Koans, dropping gems of wisdom completely missed by his interviewer.… Read the rest

If we desire enlightenment only for ourselves, then living in society will seem like a hindrance. Everything will appear as an obstacle keeping you from your spiritual lifestyle and practices. You will feel a drive to escape, perhaps to nature or to an ashram. But wherever you go, your mind comes with you.

A key component is Motivation. If you seek peace and enlightenment only for yourself, then the world will continually get in the way. However, the Tibetan Buddhists have a different thought in mind. They aspire to enlightenment for the benefit of all Beings.

If we want to live in a beautiful and awakened world of majesty and harmony, then all change must start with ourselves. But we cannot wait until we are perfect before extending compassion to the world. Therefore even as we walk the path, we must also create the space to allow others to do so as well.

Actor Larry Hagman, a mainstay of television known for his roles on shows such as Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie, died this past Friday. In a rare case of psychedelics being discussed frankly and positively on mainstream TV, he explained why all of our politicians should be required to undergo an LSD trip at least once:

Dr. Rick Strassman, a psychiatric researcher with a specialization in psychotropic drugs, on the "enlightenment experience" and hallucinogens as a pathway for Westerners into Buddhism and Hinduism:

I went to a Zen temple in my early 20s, and, ever the scientist, every chance I got to speak to a monk one on one, I asked every one of them if they had tripped on psychedelics and how important their trips were in their decision to become a monk. And I'd say 99% of these junior monks in their 20s all got their start on LSD.

“The practice of Sacred Geometry opens to the mind’s eye an analog of alternate worlds, higher dimensions representing the ultimate creative process and an unfolding evolution from Unity to multiplicity, and it demonstrates the fact that this unfolding on a cosmic scale is governed by the laws and relations of geometry.”-Randall Carlson

The Meaning of Sacred Geometry Part 2: What’s The Point?

“Ante omnia Punctum exstitit…” “Before all things were, there was a Point.”
Anonymous, 18th century ‘Le Mystere de la Croix’

Sacred Geometry, to be fully appreciated and experienced, must be undertaken as a contemplative, or meditative exercise. From the initial act of putting pencil or compass point to paper each act of geometry is charged with meaning.

The Buddhist tradition recognizes that we are not all born with equal propensities to wisdom or moral behavior, and that Enlightenment is only possible for the very few […] A fully virtuous life is biologically impossible for most people. But, given the rapid advance of neurotechnologies, “if these cognitive shortcomings could be compensated for, or balanced, through the use of safe and voluntary enhancement techniques, then it would be morally desirable to do so.” If specific, consistent moral behavioral orientations – truthfulness, compassion and so on – can be identified, and our likelihood of manifesting them is strongly influenced by inherited genetic predispositions or persistent neurochemistry, then it might be possible to use future neurotechnologies to systematically make ourselves more truthful or compassionate.